© 2007 by Yilun Yang

Workshop Lectures, Volume 3

Yilun Yang

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Yilun Yang 7P is one of the most popular go teachers in the US. He has many Internet students, holds frequent workshops around the country, and has published many books about the game and his special approach to playing it, emphasizing following precepts rather than memorizing patterns and sequences.

Yang was born in China in 1951 and had an active career as a professional go player and teacher there before coming to the US in 1986. He lives near Los Angeles, California. You can contact him at yly_go@yahoo.com.

Yang’s workshops typically involve several lectures and thorough analyses of the games participants play each day. In the lectures he guides players through the special approach to thinking about and playing the game that he has worked out during many years of teaching.

Yang argues that there are too many variables in go to make memorizing set patterns very efficient, but there are a relatively small number of easy to understand precepts that can effectively guide players' reading and play in every situation that arises. These five lectures give the reader a small taste of the exciting approach to the game that Yang has developed and that he spells out in detail in the lectures and game analyses at his workshops.

William Cobb, June 2007

Copyright Page

© 2007 Yilun Yang

All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited.

Slate & Shell
1425 Westshire Lane
Richmond, VA 23238
www.slateandshell.com

Special thanks are due to Matthew Bengtson, William Gundberg, and Evans Palmour for help with proof reading.

Edited by William Cobb

Cover design by Laurie M. Crammond

Conversion to SmartGo Books by William Cobb

ISBN of print edition:
1–932001–34–4

Table of Contents

Workshop Lectures, Volume 3

Introduction

Copyright Page

Playing the Opening

The chapters in gray are included only in the full book.

Developments Around the 4–4 Point

Punishing Weak Groups Directly

Using Forcing Moves

Handling Weak Stones

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About SmartGo Books

Playing the Opening

In the first chapter of my book The Fundamental Principles of Go I list in some detail the basic principles for choosing plays in the opening. In this lecture I will discuss applying these principles in realistic situations. To facilitate covering as many cases as we can, I will simplify the principles somewhat as shown below. These principles are guidelines for choosing the biggest play when you are not faced with an urgent move in the opening. Here is a brief summary of the guidelines we will use for this lecture.

Brief Outline of Ranking of Big Opening Moves

First: Play in an empty corner.

Second: Enclose or approach a 3–4, 5–3, or 5–4 point stone or
• Play out a joseki or
• Play in the middle of the biggest open side.

Third: Make important two or three space extensions on the side or
• Enclose or approach a corner with a 3–3 point stone or
• Enclose or approach a corner with a 4–4 point stone.

Fourth: Make the third enclosure move in a corner with a 4–4 point stone or reduce against a partially enclosed 4–4 point stone corner.

Fifth: Make a regular two or three space extension on the side.

If you choose your opening plays in the order of these rankings, you will certainly avoid any grave errors. Of course, go has innumerable variations, and strong players may sometimes vary this order somewhat. Nevertheless, you will do much better understanding and following these principles rather than trying to memorize the openings of professional games. Now I would like to discuss in some detail how to understand the meaning of the various opening moves.

Moves 1–4

＞＜ ▶︎

In this diagram the players properly begin with First Class moves, occupying the empty corners. If White 4 is not played in the empty corner, a reasonable result is less likely. In the corners, the 4–4, the 3–4, and the 3–3 points are all doable, but they have different personalities.

The 4–4 point is a high move that is good for developing along the sides in either direction, but the corner is still open.

The 3–4 point is a different story. It is good for local territory in one direction, but open in the other. So White 2 is good for controlling the right side and Black 3 is good for controlling the bottom.

In this case, would White 2 be better at A? No, Black has much more potential for development on the right side, so countering that with White 2 is better than having a white stone at A. Would Black 3 be better at B? No, for the same reason White 2 is low on the right side. Limiting White’s potential with Black 3 here is better.

Move 5

＞＜ ▶︎

The next biggest move in this case will be approaching or enclosing a corner with a 3–4 stone. Black can approach White’s lower corner to make the game more complicated, but let’s say Black makes a more defensive, territorial move at Black 5. Now White should enclose his 3–4 corner. Should White play at A or B? What is the difference?

A is high and hence better for development potential on the right side, although it leaves the corner open. However, in a diagonal opening like this one there is no chance for a moyo, so a solid move at B is better.

Moves 6–7

＞＜ ▶︎

Let’s say White plays White 6, which is also okay. Since there are no joseki, the next biggest move is extending on an open side, but which side is bigger? The top area is wider (twelve lines versus eleven on the right side), but the right side is taller (sixth line to fourth rather than fourth line to third). Usually one line taller is bigger than one line wider so Black should play on the right side. White has more potential than Black on this side, so a normal five space extension at A, which is best for development, is not appropriate. Black should go one line farther to emphasize reduction of White’s potential. Hence, Black 7.

Moves 8–10

＞＜ ▶︎

Where should White continue now? There are two big open sides, the top and the left; the top is bigger. Because Black 7 is a six line extension, the upper right side can be easily invaded, so Black’s potential is not so great at the top (Black 7 is more for reduction than for development). So White should make a normal five space extension to create a position with White 8. Now the left side is the biggest area and White has more potential there than Black. Nevertheless, a regular five space extension to Black 9 is best because if White extends to A, White still would not have an ideal position—it would be too open.

The bottom is the last big open side, so White should extend there with 10. A five space extension reduces Black’s potential while leaving White a better follow-up move (at B) than playing at C would.

The next biggest moves are important two or three space extensions on the sides. An important extension is one that has more than one purpose, for example increasing territory while strengthening a weak stone or putting pressure on your opponent’s weak stone. Just making territory is not enough.

Moves 11–12

＞＜ ▶︎

There are several areas where important extensions are possible: on the upper left side, at the top on the right, and on the lower right side. Of these, Black 11 is the most important because if White gets to play at A, White would have an ideal position. Black 11 limits White’s potential while gaining territory.

Now an extension that also develops the 3–3 stone is best for White. If Black had a stone at B, White C would be good, but in this case White needs to also put pressure on Black. Hence, White 12.

Moves 13–14

＞＜ ▶︎

Now Black can also think about enclosing the corner with the 4–4 stone. Naturally Black plays Black 13 on the top so as to also put pressure on White. Black A would be too defensive, while Black B would be too aggressive. is backed up by a strong position and is not that weak.

Now White must reduce Black’s 4–4 point corner. If Black gets to play at C that would be ideal: finishing the corner and making a five space extension down the right side. White must prevent that. Approaching at D is proper only if Black’s corner stone is unsupported. Attaching at E is touching a weak stone. White could play at F, Black E, White G, Black H, White K, but I prefer going directly into the 3–3 point with White 14. The next diagram shows why.

Moves 15–28

＞＜ ▶︎

The problem for Black here is that Black’s right side position is low. This is how it would play out. Black captures White 20 with Black 27 but White has an excellent reduction move with White 28. This is great for White. See diagram Better for Black.

Better for Black

＞＜ ▶︎

In this game situation, it would be better for Black to switch directions with Black 17 at 1 and be more aggressive, as in this diagram. This way Black makes a very solid position outside and gets more on the right side. Now the game moves into the middle game stage. White must focus on how to reduce Black’s influence instead of looking for regular big opening moves.

The full book continues this chapter with additional examples, followed by chapters on Developments Around the 4–4 Point, Punishing Weak Groups Directly, Using Forcing Moves, and Handling Weak Stones.